THE LIVING CHRISTMAS TREE

You can rent a car, rent furniture and now you can rent a Christmas tree. It's the coolest thing ever. Not to mention a sustainable option for the holiday season. Just imagine the hassle of driving to get the tree, getting it in your car and ultimately having to haul it away. Well The Living Christmas company will take all that headache from you by not only delivering the tree to your home or office, selling you all the decorations you need but also picking it up for you. No hassle, no mus, no fuss just a living Christmas tree for you to enjoy this holiday season.

Owner Scotty Claus puts it nicely...
"Our trees are alive, in a pot with their roots, and growing. This means we can delivery the tree to you and pick-up after the holidays. The tree then goes back to our nursery, where it continues growing until next year. Not every tree is suitable for rental year after year. Those that do not make the cut (no pun intended) are donated to a tree planting organization or become part of an Urban Reforestation Project. After about 7 years, the trees grow too large to rent and are taken out to pasture (we mean planted) to become big, beautiful trees."

LANDSCAPE IMAGERY

I was in need of a break and decided to randomly Google the word landscape and see what happens. In my bizarre search I came across these awesome images I thought I would share.

I would love to know where this path leads. In the meanwhile I will just pretend that the end is a glorious house made from pine cones. Below are other interesting images I found.

WOOLY POCKET GARDENS

I live in a condo complex on the second floor and struggle with the lack of room to plant, so when I saw this at a garden expo I was convinced that this was my ultimate solution to having a dream garden.

Wooly pockets are basically vertical gardens (living walls) that are flexible, breathable, modular and perfect for both indoors and outdoors. They are perfect for people like me who have space to garden but no land to garden in. They have a built in moisture barrier that helps protect against water leakage. These pockets are lightweight, which makes them very easy to use and maneuver around where they are needed.

This is definitely something that I can propose to my new clients and will try in my own garden (stay tuned for my living wall garden update). The below video will explain how to install the hanging variety.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN CHECKLIST

It is always important to know what your gardens purpose is. How you intend to use it will determine what is designed. This checklist is meant as a guide. Your answers to these questions will be very helpful for both you and the landscape designer.

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• Do you actually intend to spend time in the garden and if so when? What time during the day. When the sun is out or at night?
• What is the main purpose of your garden?
• Designed to sell
• Outdoor dining/entertaining - how often and how many people?
• Meditation/contemplation
• Hobbies - what types?
• Games/sports - what kinds?
• Do you prefer open exposed spaces or enclosed sheltered areas?
• How would you like to move through the space?
• Does the garden get sunlight between 9am to noon, noon to 3pm or after 3pm?
• What is the home's architecture like? Are there architectural elements that might look nice repeated in your garden?
• What is your favorite color?
• Are there any landscape elements (hardscape, planting etc.) that you like?
• Are there any landscape elements (hardscape, planting etc.) that you dislike?
• Are there any landscape elements (hardscape, planting etc.) that you would like to keep?
• What do you like least about your homes exterior spaces right now?
• Do you have any significant HOA restrictions?
• How much are you willing to allot for the creation and maintenance of your garden?
• Will the installation be done by you or are you going to hire a licensed landscape contractor (recommended)?
• What is your budget?

One suggestion is to look at magazines for ideas and cut out what draws your eye and make a little scrap book.

You can buy the full 24 page version here.

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BASICS OF PERMACULTURE

Permaculture as defined by Wikipedia, "is an approach to designing human settlements and perennial agricultural systems that mimics the relationships found in natural ecologies." Simply put permaculture is the bled of permanent agriculture and permanent culture. The purpose is to create self sufficient human settlements, ones that reduce society's reliance on industrial systems of production and distribution. "Permaculture principles draw heavily on the practical application of ecological theory to analyze the characteristics and potential relationships between design elements. Each element of a design is carefully analyzed in terms of its needs, outputs, and properties."

You are designing with nature and not against it. In fact the design benefits nature and the local ecosystems in that specific area.

The three core values of permaculture are...

• Earth Care - realizing that earth is our valuable home that must be preserved.
• People Care - caring for the health and well being of ourselves and others as well as developing a better way of living.
  
• Fair Share - taking only what we need and not excess. Not depleting the resources.

If we pay attention now to how we are treating this earth and make significant beneficial changes then one might conclude that we are creating a better habitat for our children and grand children.

BACK TO NATIVES RESTORATION

If you have not heard of Back to Natives Restoration then you should. Back to Natives is a non profit 501(c)3 that is dedicated to restoring/saving the Orange County and California habitat one person at a time. Aside from restoring the habitat they also provide education workshops and various other training sessions to help educate the masses about the importance of reverting the environment back to nature.

I have had the pleasure of knowing the founder Reggie Durant and educational director Lori Whalen for years and have volunteered at a few of there native planting events. They are truly a fun pair and Reggie has lots of knowledge about California native plants. Out of sheer curiosity I asked Reggie a couple of questions.

What is your favorite California native plant?

With over 8000 plant species in the California Floristic Province, there are so many to choose from! My favorite California native plant is Sequoiadendron giganteum – there’s nothing quite like standing beside a Giant Sequoia in its natural habitat! My favorite Orange County, CA native plant is Chalk Dudleya, Dudleya pulverulenta, although I am a huge fan of ALL dudleya species! In my garden at home I only plant locally native plants adapted to the climate of Orange County – we have no hybrids or cultivars.

Have you ever met a California native plant you didn’t like?

No – every plant has its place in the ecosystem, although I try to avoid Poison Oak!

What was the best project that you worked on and why?

I love projects that involve the collaboration of multiple agencies, and result in the long term involvement of volunteers. My favorite project is our USFS Restoration Volunteer Training Class, now in its third year. I was a graduate of the class in the first year it was offered. In that year participants put in a total of 550.5 hours of volunteer time. I developed lasting friendships with my classmates while weeding Russian thistle from the Silverado Fire Station grounds, vinca from Caspers Wilderness Park, mustard and scotch broom from the Cleveland National Forest, artichoke thistle from Starr Ranch and Mason Regional Park, and tree tobacco and tamarisk at O’Neill Park. This program represents an amazing amount of cooperation between Back to Natives Restoration, the Cleveland National Forest, and OC Parks. Participants represented the aforementioned organizations as well as the El Dorado Nature Center, the Sierra Club, Silverado-Modjeska Recreation & Park District, and the Donna O'Neill Land Conservancy!

Have you ever seen the gardening/landscape shows on HGTV? Any thoughts?

No, we do not have a TV.

When you are not restoring habitats you are?

Recruiting and coordinating volunteers for the next event, fundraising, and marketing. For fun? I play the guitar, paint, and read.

If you would like to save the environment but don't have the time to volunteer then why not donate to Back to Natives Restoration.

BENEFICIAL INSECTS FOR YOUR GARDEN

Contrary to what you may have heard some insects are actually good. Beneficial to the growth and well being of your garden. These beneficial bugs will help in reducing the spread of not so beneficial ones.

Below are some that Linsay Munoz of the examiner writes are important.

• The Assassin bug:
  A viscous-looking bug that measures from ¼ inch to 1-inch long, with a cone-shaped head and curving beak. Their bite can be painful to humans and some species squeak when captured. Females lay single eggs in cracks, under rocks or in other sheltered spots in the summer and the new adults emerge the following June. Assassin bugs prey on many garden pets including flies, mosquitoes, beetles and large caterpillars. Adult and nymph Assassin bugs stab their prey with a long, pointed “beak” that is held, folded under their bodies when not feeding.
• Lady Beetle:
  Most of us prize these gentle insects with protecting our roses from Aphids however, it is their larvae, which are most valuable. A soft-bodied, alligator-shaped bug with black and orange markings. Both the larvae and the adult Lady beetle feed on other soft-bodied insects like Aphids, Mealy bugs, scale insects, Spider mites and insect eggs. A note about purchasing and releasing these beetles into your garden; they don’t often hang around for long without the right plants.
  

Click here to learn about more beneficial insects.

FARM FRESH TO YOU

I recently signed up for this service called farm fresh to you, where you get an assortment of organic fruits and or vegetables delivered right to the doorstep of your home or office.

I pay $23 bi monthly for a bi monthly (small box) assortment of fruits. What I get each time depends on what is in season but you can customize your order and delete certain fruits that you just don't like or request more of what you do like. This saves you time at the grocery store and money. I highly recommend that you try this out and if you don't like it then you can cancel or change your order at any time without any penalties.